Semantics and Syntax

The course will focus on two areas: (1) an introduction to models which combine syntactic and semantic analysis in an explicit formal description; (2) empirically based studies of linguistic phenomena in which syntactic and semantic analysis are combined.

Part (1) is based on formal Semantics and Constraint-based Grammar. Phenomena studied in part (2) are drawn from languages in which the student has enough data (e.g. corpora, existing descriptions, etc.). Both (1) and (2) will show how syntactic-semantic analysis can be given a computational implementation.

The content and focus can vary somewhat according to the composition of the class.

After having taken this topic, the students should

- Have good knowledge of at leas tone syntactic and one semantic framework, for instance HPSG or LFG, and conceptual or formal semantics

- Have good knowledge of phenomena in morphology, syntax and semantics and in the interfaces between them

- Have good awareness of cross-linguistic differences regarding which aspects of meaning are linguistically coded and with which morpho-syntactic strategies

- Be able to retrieve relevant data and test out theoretical predictions

- Be able to employ digital tools connected to morpho-syntactic analysis

Lectures and group instructions. More on assessment: Obligatory exercises have to be approved before the student may take the written exam. The size of the exercises must be between 2-4 A4-pages each, with the use of standard Linguistic formats.